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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28963875">Additions</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/theriveroflight/pseuds/theriveroflight'>theriveroflight</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Miraculous Ladybug</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Dragon Kagami Tsurugi | Ryuko, Episode: s03 Miracle Queen (The Battle of the Miraculous Part 2), Falling In Love, Finally, Gabriel Agreste | Papillon | Hawk Moth Defeat, Hurt/Comfort, Identity Reveal, Ladynoir | Adrien Agreste as Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng as Ladybug, Multi, Mutual Pining, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Secret Identity, Snake Luka Couffaine | Viperion</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 06:49:01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>8,661</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28963875</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/theriveroflight/pseuds/theriveroflight</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Marinette is uncertain. Adrien is angry. Luka is trying his best. And Kagami is confident.</p><p>They all try their best.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Luka Couffaine/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug/Kagami Tsurugi</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>77</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>January 2021 - Exchange</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/MiraculousKittyKat/gifts">MiraculousKittyKat</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>So, my recipient wanted Lukadrigaminette + identity reveal.</p><p>I proceeded to write an AU where Luka and Kagami are permanent heroes, whoops.</p><p>Thanks to pearholiday for beta reading.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Ladybug and Chat Noir land on the ground to fight the latest akuma when someone lands next to them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“My name’s Viperion,” he says, “and I’m here to help you two.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ladybug furrows her brows (even covered by the mask, her expression is visible), and Chat Noir feels exactly how she does – simultaneously puzzled and annoyed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Where did you get that?” Ladybug says, pointing at the Snake bracelet.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t know. It was given to me,” he says. “I found it in my…bag.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But Chat remembers Volpina, and is doubtful.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You aren’t the…akuma, are you?” Ladybug asks. “We received the alert.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No. I’ve seen it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What is it this time?” Chat asks. He’s tired, admittedly, and he just wants to get this over with. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s…a homeless person. It destroys buildings and something about how nobody can </span>
  <em>
    <span>ever </span>
  </em>
  <span>have a home again.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Then why did Fu feel the need to deploy a new hero </span>
  <em>
    <span>now?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“Alright. Battle first, and then we talk about whatever’s left,” he says, because that is their priority as heroes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“My power is Second Chance. It grants me a reset within five minutes.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s useful,” Ladybug admits. “Alright, let’s see if we can find ‘em.”</span>
</p>
<hr/><p>
  <span>Over the next few weeks, Ladybug tells Chat Noir that Master Fu told her they were getting new partners after Hawk Moth had increased the stakes with Heroes Day. Since he had discovered how to catalyze his powers, there was always the risk of another attack. Viperion was another person that had not been akumatized before. And while he is slightly older than Ladybug and Chat Noir, Fu still trusted that he would mesh well with the team.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And really, Viperion </span>
  <em>
    <span>has. </span>
  </em>
  <span>Chat is always-and-forever Ladybug’s (or as much as a teenager can hope for, at least), but he can acknowledge that Viperion’s abs are hot.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And then, after the threat of Party Crasher, they face a new one.</span>
</p>
<hr/><p>
  <span>“You may call me Ryuuko,” the hero says, and he can hear the Japanese in her name  – but steers himself away from the obvious connection. There are other Japanese speakers in France – heck, it could even just be someone who liked anime enough to learn the language. (That certainly applied to him, after all.)</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He wonders what happened to </span>
  <em>
    <span>you and me against the world, milady </span>
  </em>
  <span>— but it isn’t Ladybug’s fault, and misplaced blame will get them nowhere but equally hurt.</span>
</p>
<hr/><p>
  <span>Adrien goes to Fu on his own this time.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What is this about?” he asks. “Why are you adding more to our team?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You need to accept them, Adrien,” Master Fu says. “I will not be around forever.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It feels like a strange kind of change. “But…Ladybug and myself are both equally capable of defeating them on our own.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It makes him feel unnecessary. It makes him feel like he isn’t needed, and he wants to be needed so desperately. But Ryuuko can rain down her own form of destruction and Viperion holds the most useful power of the four of them. And Ladybug is, of course, the most essential – the king on the chessboard. He’s always been her queen (and that sounds strange, but who is he to enforce archaic gender norms) but even a queen can ultimately be sacrificed, and two rooks can still checkmate.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Really, he’s always been the least essential of the team, even though he Ladybug and Black Cat are supposed to be a duo unto themselves. He can admit that Ryuuko and Viperion both make him strive to be better, but it’s out of some sick sense of…competition, almost, and that, if he loses, his Miraculous will be taken.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Let them support you. Catch you when you fall. I see that you feel as though that they invalidate your presence – but they were picked for compatibility with you and Ladybug, separately and all together. Accept them and I think you will find that defeating villains comes easier to you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Adrien stands at a crossroads, he thinks. Pick, choose </span>
  <em>
    <span>something.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>But how does he choose?</span>
</p>
<hr/><p>
  <span>The first time Adrien meets both Kagami and Luka are both marred by akumatizations – Kagami’s own, and Luka’s mother’s. Kagami seems to cling to him right away, and Luka seems to sense some kind of spark in Marinette. He doesn’t mind. Marinette is extraordinary, but Ladybug is the only girl for him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>(That’s a lie, that’s a lie, something within him whispers – but he doesn’t think about those whispers, because Adrien tries so hard to be honest. But how can you be honest when you’re a superhero and you have to keep secrets?)</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ryuuko doesn’t show up when Oni-Chan is akumatized. Then again, not all four show up at any given time – Ladybug is always there, but sometimes it’s just the two of them; sometimes Adrien gets caught up in something he can’t get away from so it’s the other three; sometimes it’s just him and Ladybug; sometimes they go without Viperion; and other times, without Ryuuko. And the team dynamics are complicated, too.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He can’t blame them, really. Ladybug is easy to love, and he’s always treated the other two as competition. (Ryuuko seems more eager to compete than Viperion, and he can’t help but draw the similarities, over and over – but he shouldn’t try to find out her identity, despite the many close brushes with figuring out Ladybug’s and his secret suspicions.) And while Ladybug talks about a mystery boy that she knows as a civilian, he also notices her blushing at Ryuuko sometimes, and the way she so easily trusts Viperion.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He knows that they have their own thing, but he can’t help his jealousy. He can’t help but envy the relationships that they have with Ladybug, despite knowing that they’re all different. That their individual natures are all different, and he has his own dynamic with Viperion and Ryuuko.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ryuuko’s confidence never falters, and her bluntness is a part of the charm she possesses. And Viperion always manages to know the right thing to do, always has their answers. Somehow.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Adrien really tries not to fall, but… something about the masks actually makes them </span>
  <em>
    <span>more </span>
  </em>
  <span>vulnerable, more willing to share things without the connection to the people that they know outside of them. It’s a sort of freedom that he treasures, and he’s willing to pay whatever price he must for it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And really, his heart has enough room for them all to possess some of it, nestling up next to each other.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>(Always has been far too willing to give his love to people who may or may not treasure it as much as he does—)</span>
</p><p>
  <span>So he takes Fu’s advice to heart. He lets them catch him.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Marinette ponders their new teammates.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thanks to pearholiday for beta reading this, again.</p><p>Identity reveal on my end, but not the characters' (yet). Hope you enjoy!</p><p>Primarily focuses on s3 finale.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“If—” Marinette steels herself. </span>
  <em>
    <span>“When </span>
  </em>
  <span>I must take over, do I have to know who the others are?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span> “It may be helpful, but you do not have to if you do not wish to know.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>That calms her a bit. And she knows that it </span>
  <em>
    <span>will </span>
  </em>
  <span>happen eventually. Ryuuko and Viperion were recruited so she’d have a better support network, after all, and she’s not one to refuse those kinds of things. Even if she may not use them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thank you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Because she doesn’t want to know, because her world might come crashing down around her if she were to. She doesn’t love them, not like she knows Chat Noir does. She’s never been one for a mystery, after all.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Marinette, if she had to describe herself, was </span>
  <em>
    <span>pragmatic. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>And it is much, much easier to love Adrien. So easy that it almost feels like she doesn’t at all. But she keeps insisting on it, and it </span>
  <em>
    <span>was </span>
  </em>
  <span>true – so why isn’t it now?</span>
</p><hr/><p>
  <span>Luka tells her that she’ll always have him when Marinette bursts out ranting about responsibility and secrets and how she used to think she was an honest person – </span>
  <em>
    <span>since when was she a liar?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’ll be okay,” Chat says when he hugs her underwater, when she confesses that it was her fault, that she let her feelings control her and that caused the mess they’re in now. Viperion and Ryuuko linger behind at first, but Chat extends a hand to let them in, and the group hug is nice.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Alright, team.” She feels a little better. “Let’s go fix this.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The temps from when too many were out of commission all stand there in formation, an army waiting to strike.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When they emerge, Ryuuko uses Water Dragon to shield them all from the wasps that threaten to sting and forms a forcefield large enough to fight all of them in, from the akumatized Chloe at the helm to all of the temporary heroes standing behind her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Alya, Nino, Max, Mylene, Kim…all people that are temporary, and somewhat more vulnerable.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>All of them are suited up except for Nino, because Master Fu is using the Turtle.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Take another,” Chloe insists, and he removes the Tiger Miraculous, sliding it into place. “Transform.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How?” Nino directs the question at the kwami.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Roaar, light the spark,” the kwami answers, because they must. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nino repeats it, and transforms. They stand, face to face, her own crew outnumbered by two (if Chloe chooses to fight). </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Attack,” Chloe commands, and she sounds like a drone even if she </span>
  <em>
    <span>is </span>
  </em>
  <span>the queen.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Viperion, now,” she snaps, and he activates his bracelet.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Now the battle really begins.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>With the Snake on their side, they eventually come up with a plan, and Chloe is deakumatized – but still transformed into Queen Bee, and the control on the others isn’t quite broken even though no one else can be controlled anymore. They use King Monkey’s own power against their foes, his own chaos making things easy.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It was </span>
  <em>
    <span>promised </span>
  </em>
  <span>to me,” Chloe says, and she sounds desperate, trying to find something to cling to. Marinette can’t help but sympathize with her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“But it’s not </span>
  <em>
    <span>supposed </span>
  </em>
  <span>to be yours,” Viperion says. Ryuuko tugs him away.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re about to transform back,” she can hear Ryuuko say before they fall out of earshot.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He’s right,” Chat Noir says, snarling, and then the shield around Master Fu breaks, and he says the words that summon everything to the Box and to Marinette.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Well, Ladybug, but she </span>
  <em>
    <span>is </span>
  </em>
  <span>Ladybug.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Give it here, Ladybug,” Chloe threatens, spitting out “Ladybug” like she does “Dupain-Cheng,” and it’s oddly familiar and strange.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m sorry,” she says, “that you were driven to this madness.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Chloe looks at her and a glimmer of </span>
  <em>
    <span>something </span>
  </em>
  <span>comes through. “I am too,” she snarls. “Now give it to me.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Chat steps up to defend her. “She won’t be doing that.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And while their confrontation is playing out, she spots Ryuuko chasing Hawk Moth and Mayura.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There’s something, something, something…</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Give me back the Miraculous,” Marinette says. “It’ll be okay, Chloe.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why didn’t you pick me? You never pick me.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Because… it’s not because I don’t appreciate what you’ve done for me, Chloe. But the team is </span>
  <em>
    <span>crowded, </span>
  </em>
  <span>and no one deserves to feel as though they don’t have a purpose.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Chat blinks at her. “I’m going to go after Ryuuko,” he says, something stormy gathering in his expression. “Talk to you later.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Good luck,” she says.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Chloe looks between them. “How can you trust them?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I have to,” she answers, “and now I’m choosing to trust you. Trust that you’ll do the right thing.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I can’t. I chose him.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You still can.” Ladybug reaches a hand out to her, palm open. “Give me back the comb. And we’ll consider giving you your position back. Maybe give you a different Miraculous – this one is too risky. The entire city knows and that’s been exploited a few times.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You still…?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I think you can still make the right choice, Chloe.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She removes the Bee Miraculous and turns back to Chloe. She places it in Marinette’s hand.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thank you, Ladybug.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She swings upwards to see Master Fu.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Who are you? And what was that down there? I cannot remember…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A failsafe. It makes too much sense, after all, that the Guardians would embed something in there to prevent the leakage of knowledge.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But she still hasn’t cast her Lucky Charm or Cure.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Lucky Charm!” A keychain falls out of the sky.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, it matches!” he says, and points to his own keychain.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Miraculous Ladybug,” she declares, feeling slightly broken.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why’d you throw it away like that?” he asks.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Call me Ladybug,” she says. “And…it’s complicated.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Here, take mine,” he says. “I do not know what I am doing.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It didn’t work.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ll…take you to someone.” She swings towards the park and finds Marianne, as she expects, talking with M. Ramier.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What happened—” Marianne pauses. “I see. Thank you, Ladybug.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Marinette gives a solemn nod and heads to detransform when she sees Luka.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Where’s Chat Noir?” he asks.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t know,” she answers. “Why?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Doesn’t matter.” Luka shakes his head, and her earrings beep again. “You should go.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She doesn’t chase the instinct that calls it suspicious.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Everything… everything’s changed. She doesn’t need anything </span>
  <em>
    <span>else </span>
  </em>
  <span>to turn upside down.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Future chapters will be uploaded on Sundays.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Luka's doing his best to keep them together.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This is where everything hits the fan.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Luka transforms back and looks at the locator. He sees that Chat Noir and Ryuuko are almost in the exact same place, and he knows that Ryuuko chased Hawk Moth and Mayura, he wonders where they’re going.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But he has to catch up to them, and he knows the city well enough now to take a shortcut to get to their location.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Chat Noir and Ryuuko both linger outside the Agreste mansion.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What’s wrong?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“They landed on the roof, and out of a desire to stay hidden I didn’t see anything else, but I presume that this is where they’re based out of or they wouldn’t have stopped,” Ryuuko says.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Gabriel Agreste </span>
  <em>
    <span>has </span>
  </em>
  <span>to be Hawk Moth,” Chat mutters. “It can’t be anyone else.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I…as much as I do not wish to say it, there is a possibility it could be Adrien.” He knows why she doesn’t want to. He wouldn’t either, in her position, but it needs to be voiced.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Adrien is </span>
  <em>
    <span>not </span>
  </em>
  <span>Hawk Moth,” Chat snaps. “Ryuuko, watch yourself. Viperion, have you seen Ladybug?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“She looked rather frazzled when I last saw her,” he explains. “I’m sure she’ll be joining us eventually, but she needed to recharge first.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“How do you know he isn’t?” Ryuuko demands.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“B-because Ladybug and I suspected Gabriel before, but when we spoke to Adrien he said he didn’t know anything.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You’re lying,” Luka says, and it starts to come together a bit. “It’s not that you spoke to Adrien. It’s that…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Don’t say it,” Chat whispers, but Luka is reminded of the power he has, destruction at his fingertips. “Because…if it gets out, then I’m </span>
  <em>
    <span>done, </span>
  </em>
  <span>and one of you will take my place. Or both. Either way…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You’ve always been afraid, and jealous,” Ryuuko says, more observant than accusative. “You’re afraid that because we exist that invalidates your place on the team. I think Ladybug needs you more than she needs either of us, really.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Ryuuko is right.” Luka places a hand on Chat’s shoulder. “It’ll be okay.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Say it,” Chat says, and it sounds a little broken. “Tell me why you think Adrien can’t be Hawk Moth.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Because you’re Adrien.” Luka can’t help but smile, he knows, because he fell in love with Adrien over piano cases and band practices, and Chat Noir is certainly </span>
  <em>
    <span>attractive </span>
  </em>
  <span>but one side or the other and it was a </span>
  <em>
    <span>false dilemma all along</span>
  </em>
  <span>. “I can’t believe…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“My father is Hawk Moth,” Adrien says. “What are we supposed to do?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Call Ladybug,” Ryuuko suggests. “She’ll know </span>
  <em>
    <span>something </span>
  </em>
  <span>about what to do.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“But what if she…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“She loves you. Maybe not the same way you love her, but she loves you,” Luka says, needing to reassure him. “I know it.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ryuuko snatches the baton to call Ladybug. “Ladybug? We have an emergency. We’re near the Agreste mansion.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’ll be right there,” he hears her say over the line. “What’s wrong?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Chat and I followed Hawk Moth back here. I think…we’re all still trying to formulate a plan of action.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m already coming. I can't see your position, but I know you’re close.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We’re…hiding. Viperion will meet you.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“See you soon,” Ladybug says, and the baton beeps.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I guess I have to go?” he says. “You two…keep supporting each other. I think this is going to be the hardest battle we’ve fought.”</span>
</p>
<hr/>
<p>
  <span>“Ladybug!” Luka calls, and sees her turn in midair to see him, pivoting her swing so she lands next to him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What’s wrong?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We came to the conclusion that Hawk Moth is Gabriel Agreste, so his assistant must be Mayura.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“How?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s not Adrien. Think about it – who would be his Mayura?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“...You’re right about that second part. But he’s never been akumatized. And Gabriel has.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Could he not akumatize himself? Besides, I have…hard proof that Adrien isn’t Hawk Moth. Proof that I’m not supposed to tell you about because it has to do with secret identities.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Okay. Where’s Chat and Ryuuko?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“They’re both in the spot we were hiding at until we decided what to do.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Okay. Grab on.” Ladybug hooks her yo-yo onto the fence post, and Luka takes her hand as they swing.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Here,” he says, near some bushes, and she tugs her yo-yo free to drop them both onto the ground.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She seems to realize how exactly they’re holding onto each other, and blushes as she lets go.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ryuuko emerges from the bushes, carefully carrying Chat. “He…cried until he fell asleep.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What’s wrong?” Ladybug asks. “I…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s shaken his world in a lot of ways, everything today,” Luka says, trying to be gentle, because the same applies to Ladybug too.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Mood,” Ladybug says, but her laughter is broken and the slightest bit hysterical. She gently shakes Chat. “Hey, kitty.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Ladybug?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It feels just the slightest bit like heartbreak, but really he just feels a sense of love for them – for </span>
  <em>
    <span>all </span>
  </em>
  <span>of them.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What’s wrong?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I didn’t want it to be him,” he says, “I knew it probably was, but…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I used to idolize him too,” Ladybug answers gently. “But sometimes even the worst of people can have some good ideas. And they use those to lure followers in, so that by the time their badness comes out, it’s ruined everyone around them.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It hasn’t ruined me, has it?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No,” they all say in unison.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Are you ready?” Luka asks. “It’s okay if you aren’t.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Now or never, right?” Chat scrambles to his feet. “Let’s go.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Luka and Ryuuko’s eyes meet.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>(There’s always been some hidden solidarity between them, some part of both that knows that Ladybug and Chat Noir are like binary stars trapped in orbit around each other, and they’re just…somewhere else in the system, not a part of it, not as grandiose as either of them.)</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>(And maybe that hidden solidarity has turned to something else – he doesn’t know. Feelings are complicated, after all, and there are so many other pieces.)</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It doesn’t have to be,” Ladybug says. “We need to have an actual plan, Chat.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I can’t go back there now,” he says. “Not when I know. He’s my </span>
  <em>
    <span>father, </span>
  </em>
  <span>Ladybug, and I can’t—”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Chat,” Ladybug says, “you know what this means, right?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Plagg, claws in,” he says. “I know, milady.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I— no, I’m not </span>
  <em>
    <span>taking </span>
  </em>
  <span>it from you, it means that I’m getting you </span>
  <em>
    <span>out of here, </span>
  </em>
  <span>and we’re </span>
  <em>
    <span>all </span>
  </em>
  <span>talking to the police. This is bigger than us.”</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Kagami says her piece. There's an akuma fight. And some more revelations.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>we're really in it now...</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Gabriel Agreste turns himself in. Kagami catches her mother mourning a business partner, calling him stupid for his recklessness. She’s surprised, really. But she knows that Nathalie Sancoeur got away, so perhaps they have some kind of fallback.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>After all, Timetagger told them that there would be a new Hawk Moth. Perhaps it is Nathalie; perhaps her devotion to Gabriel will be her doom.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It doesn’t matter to Kagami, really. She’ll keep being Ryuuko as long as Ladybug needs her.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Everyone accuses Adrien of being an accomplice. Kagami protects him as best she can, but he doesn’t quite understand, and it would be a risk for his being Chat Noir to be public knowledge.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>All of them understand that. But it doesn’t quell the irrational spark within Kagami that wants to say it anyway, that wants to call all of them </span>
  <em>
    <span>idiots </span>
  </em>
  <span>for not seeing it.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She and Luka have known for a long time about each other. It was an accident, a matter of picking the same place to recharge in – after all, neither of them can get as far as Ladybug or Chat Noir on their feet alone. It’s a kind of solidarity, too – her sword can’t carry her, and neither can his lyre.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ladybug is still an enigma, but Kagami notices some things that…well, if she were to be honest, a part of her doesn’t wish to find out at all.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They don’t encounter as many people during summer break, and Adrien’s friends stand by him too.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It’s a few weeks before the first akuma hits. One they’re unfamiliar with, but designed with much more…precision than Hawk Moth’s ever were.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I have to go,” Adrien says when they get the alert.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Okay,” Kagami answers, because it provides a cover for her too.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And when she leaps into the battle, she finds that the akuma has a sword, too.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Care for a duel?” Ryuuko says, and wrinkles her nose in distaste. It’s some kind of strange Western depiction of a samurai, and those have always been inaccurate.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ladybug lands next to her. “Find out anything?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I accept your request,” the akuma answers. “I am the Steel Samurai, and I will prevail!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ryuuko brandishes her sword and lets out a sigh. “I got this, Spots. You just focus on grabbing the object.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What about the others?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I know Chat is coming,” she says, “but not sure about Viperion.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Alright,” Ladybug answers. “I’ll keep an eye out. Keep ‘em busy, Stripes.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No,” Ryuuko answers flatly.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Are you two done </span>
  <em>
    <span>talking, </span>
  </em>
  <span>or are you ready to duel?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Of course I am,” Ryuuko answers. She’s always down for a good swordfight. The akuma attacks first. Ryuuko parries the attack with her sword. Then they circle around, and she ducks underneath the arm of the akuma (one positive of being short, at least).</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She gets a little too close for them to effectively attack her.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Lucky Charm!” she hears Ladybug say.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Chat and Viperion are suspiciously absent, but she doesn’t say anything. She doesn’t mind when it’s only Ladybug and her; they’re still an effective team, if not quite as effective as the other combinations.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Ryuuko, try the sword!” Ladybug yells.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Wind Dragon!” She channels the force of the wind into her sword, and swings. It hits home and breaks the weapon in two, but no akuma comes out of it and the Steel Samurai just seems to grow more enraged.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Alright, what’s next?” she calls, shouting back at Ladybug.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Need some help, ladies?” Chat Noir lands on the scene with a grin.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She catches Ladybug approaching him and whispering some kind of plan in her peripheral vision.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ladybug is suddenly hovering above them, clinging to Chat’s staff. She sprinkles salt onto the costume.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Oh!</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Water Dragon,” Ryuuko declares with a grin, and she watches as the costume rusts, hitting it gently with the weapon to encourage it to break.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>A butterfly comes fluttering out, eventually.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ladybug catches it from where she stands and then hops down to the ground. “Bye-bye, little butterfly.” She tosses the salt shaker in the air. “Miraculous Ladybug!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The three of them stand in a triangle. “Pound it,” they say in unison.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I gotta run,” Ladybug declares. “Before I…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I understand,” both Ryuuko and Chat say in unison.</span>
</p>
<hr/>
<p>
  <span>“So,” Viperion says, when they’re all exhausted from a false akuma report, “since we all know Chat’s identity, should we all know each other’s?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I should,” Ladybug swallows, “know each of you. Just in case. I’m…the Guardian now, and I need to be ready for anything. ”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ladybug was always the most adamant about their identities.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“For the sake of transparency, I would just like to say that none of us know your identity, but Viperion and I know each other’s,” she says.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Chat looks over at her. She wonders if he is suspicious  from the way she’s been the slightest bit more daring with him, which reflects on her relationship with Adrien too. She’s never been </span>
  <em>
    <span>jealous, </span>
  </em>
  <span>not since she found out. Besides, she fully understands what it’s like to be in love with multiple people. Both of their hearts are built to hold more.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Since when?” Ladybug demands.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Since before you became the Guardian, at least,” Luka steps up.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I had no idea,” Chat Noir says. “You did an excellent job.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Neither of us wanted to lie.” She brushes her hair behind her ear, a little nervous tic.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Then why did you?” Ladybug asks.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We’ve been afraid,” Luka answers. “Afraid that this would be taken away from us. I love this team, and my kwami is one of my best friends now. I can’t speak for Ryuuko, but I know that being with the three of you are some of the best times of my life, even if we barely meet outside of attacks.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I agree. And I didn’t know who L-Viperion was at first,” she says. “We didn’t really know each other, but knowing each other in both the suits and after the reveal strengthened our relationship as civilians.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Luka takes her hand. She looks over at him, confused. After all, she’s with Adrien, and they haven’t talked about this (even though she knows they both feel it).</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We’re better for it, not worse, and I think we all can be.”</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Marinette has to make a choice. Should she reveal her identity and risk it all?</p><p>(Yes.)</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Marinette feels paralyzed. There’s no one to help her make the best decision (because when has it been a matter of right or wrong, when was the last time it was that easy?). Fu’s gone, Tikki is in her Miraculous; she can’t ask anyone for help because all the other people who she could ask don’t know that she’s Ladybug or are part of the problem.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m afraid too,” she confesses. “The stakes aren’t as high for the rest of you. Not anymore. The closest would be Adrien, back when the Butterfly was still…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We know.” Viperion reaches to comfort her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“If my identity is revealed to the wrong people, then you don’t just lose me, Ladybug, the only person with the power to fix everything. You also lose the Box, and the rest of the Miraculous within. And they might not be as important, but their power would be dangerous in the wrong hands.” She takes a deep breath. “And it isn’t that I don’t </span>
  <em>
    <span>trust </span>
  </em>
  <span>you, I want to tell you very much. But there will always be risks. There might not always be someone watching, but I have to treat it as though there is because I can’t take the risk. Not now.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>paranoia,” </span>
  </em>
  <span>Ryuuko points out. “With all due respect.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You can’t let fear run your life,” Adrien says. “It almost ruined me, too.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She tries to relax a little bit, but her shoulders creep back up. “There’s a certain amount of fear that’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>healthy.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“And you’ve passed it,” Viperion points out. “We want you to trust us so much. It’s scary. But we’re here.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You… first,” she says. “I need another moment to decide whether I should.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We’re not going to make you.” Ryuuko’s words are as to-the-point as ever, but her tone tries to convey gentleness. “It’s not about fairness, really. It doesn’t matter if you still don’t know. You don’t have to. Longg, open sky.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kagami. And it makes perfect, perfect sense…</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sass, scales rest,” Viperion says, revealing Luka. Adrien looks a little bit shocked, but scoots closer to Kagami. “Ladybug?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She looks at the three of them sitting next to each other, looking at her with anticipation. She looks around – left, right. There’s no one looking at them in the limited darkness of Paris at night.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Tikki, spots off.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Marinette,” Adrien says, wrapping her in a hug.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They all cling to each other on the rooftop. “I don’t know…” Marinette says. “What am I doing?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What you’ve always been,” Luka says. “Things are going to change, but I think for the better, if Kagami and I are any indicator.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“For the better or the worse, there’s no going back,” she says, “and there’s nothing I can do to prevent anything that could happen. You know. Or, Ry-Kagami knows.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What does she know?” Luka asks.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He said that their love destroyed the world.” Kagami motions at Adrien and Marinette.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She thought it was meant to be both of them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Who?” Adrien asks.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ch-Chat Blanc,” Marinette says. “Bunnix came. Kagami and I were together at the time, and she told us that there was a great danger that she needed us to fight.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What happened?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We don’t know,” Kagami answers. “But I mean…he almost referred to us by our real names. Marinette shut that down.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I couldn’t…I didn’t want anyone to know.” Marinette takes a deep breath. “And I really didn’t want it to be marred by an akuma. I didn’t want to let myself. I thought it would be safer if I just…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kept denying Chat Noir. Fell in love with the people around her as Marinette. But they’re the same people, and how exactly did she manage to pick the three </span>
  <em>
    <span>worst </span>
  </em>
  <span>people to love for her first attempt at it?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What were you thinking?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I thought it would be safer if I didn’t let myself. But it seems I’ll always be pulled in,” she laughs despite not feeling very happy, not very much like laughter at the moment.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What do you mean?” Adrien asks.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I thought what he said was directed towards both of us. But that might just have been wishful thinking.” Marinette shakes her head. “After all, one lover is supposed to be good enough—”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She didn’t mean to say that out loud.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I-I have to go,” she says. “Tikki, spots on.” She gets away from the roof. She can’t, she can’t, she can’t, because they’re all normal and she’s the one that isn’t. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>When she gets back home and detransforms, she slumps against the wall.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Marinette, you can’t run from your problems,” Tikki says.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I know, I know. I just needed to escape for a little bit.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I want you to be happy. I didn’t interfere because you all were talking and that was </span>
  <em>
    <span>good.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“I made a mistake. I didn’t want to say that.” Marinette sighs. “I’m going to sleep. Maybe it’ll feel more clear tomorrow.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But she doubts that. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Good night, Marinette.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Good night, Tikki.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It won’t be a reset – after all, there’s not a second chance to save her here after making a mistake. She didn’t mean to say it, she didn’t want to say it, she’s not even </span>
  <em>
    <span>entirely certain </span>
  </em>
  <span>about her feelings.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Her love towards Adrien had only grown stronger since the reveal. She suspects that the same will happen, but she can’t say for sure.</span>
</p><hr/><p>
  <span>She wakes up the next morning feeling rested, with a single resolution. She’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>going </span>
  </em>
  <span>to avoid them outside akuma attacks until she can figure out exactly what she wants. That might take a little bit.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She starts off by texting them, saying that she probably won’t come with them for a while because she’s working out some of her own stuff.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Luka replies with a thumbs up emoji and a </span>
  <em>
    <span>take your time, </span>
  </em>
  <span>which feels reassuring. Kagami leaves her on read. Adrien responds with “just wanted to say me too” and how exactly is that </span>
  <em>
    <span>helpful.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“Marinette, are you really sure this is the best course of action?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s not </span>
  <em>
    <span>permanent. </span>
  </em>
  <span>It’s only for a little bit until I work out everything.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Only for a little bit, she tells the part of her that wants to see them. It quells that part, but another whispers in her, asking if she’s truly telling the truth.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter 6</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>They give Marinette space. Adrien has some concerns, but Marinette needs to be on-board before they can move forward.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Adrien doesn’t know how Marinette is going to avoid him until he walks into class to find that she’s invited Sabrina to sit next to her, leaving him to sit next to Chloe.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He doesn’t know how Marinette talked to her after Miracle Queen, but he does know that she’s been more subdued ever since. Still abrasive as ever, but she doesn’t say things as often.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The silence is almost more unnerving than if she were her usual self afterwards, if nothing at all had changed.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hey, Adrikins.” Chloe smiles at him. “I don’t know why she wanted Sabrina to sit next to her, but Dupain-Cheng can have her for now.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Why have you changed seats?” Mme Bustier asks. “I’m not against it — after all, you chose your seats at the beginning of the year — but I must ask why.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s temporary,” Marinette says. “I spearheaded the change – it’s at least for this week, maybe next week too.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Mme Bustier just nods, content with the word of her class representative, apparently. “Take out your literature homework.”</span>
</p>
<hr/>
<p>
  <span>Kagami texts him during lunch. </span>
  <em>
    <span>What do you think of Marinette’s message?</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He doesn’t even hesitate before replying. (Perhaps Kagami is rubbing off on him.) </span>
  <em>
    <span>I think she has the right to take as much space as she wants. She’s clearly struggling mentally and we should respect her desire.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Even if it hurts her?</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He looks over at Marinette, sitting with Aurore, Mireille, and Alya. </span>
  <em>
    <span>It doesn’t seem like it’s hurting her.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>It’s a little soon to say, </span>
  </em>
  <span>Kagami admits. </span>
  <em>
    <span>But I don’t think it will help her.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He sighs. </span>
  <em>
    <span>I mean, I told her that I felt the same. I’m not sure if that helped her or not.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>We all are. And I hope that the people she loves are the same too. </span>
  </em>
  <span>He can hear her voice in his head, and it gives him a sense of comfort, almost.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>She’ll come back to us when she wants, </span>
  </em>
  <span>Adrien sends. </span>
  <em>
    <span>End of story.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And that’s true, but that doesn’t mean that it’s not hurting Kagami when Marinette distances herself. It probably </span>
  <em>
    <span>is </span>
  </em>
  <span>for Marinette’s mental health. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hey, bro, what are you doing?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’ve just been texting Kagami,” he answers. “I’m fine.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You seem sad.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m not sure how I feel,” he answers.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Cheer up, bro. You’re not with your father anymore.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Adrien sometimes wishes he were. Living at Nino’s feels too crowded, and doesn’t offer enough space for himself or the Camembert. And he supposes that Nathalie (the new Butterfly, almost </span>
  <em>
    <span>certainly) </span>
  </em>
  <span>couldn’t take him in, nor his bodyguard, deemed unfit due to his disability. He was almost sent off to Aunt Amelie and Felix, but Nino’s family had agreed to adopt him, and he couldn’t be more grateful for that. Living in London would be </span>
  <em>
    <span>terrible, </span>
  </em>
  <span>considering his status as Chat Noir.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And he knows he isn’t </span>
  <em>
    <span>vital </span>
  </em>
  <span>like Ladybug, but he’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>important. </span>
  </em>
  <span>He believes so, at least, and belief is just the first step.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I know.” He smiles at that. “Is it weird that I sometimes miss him anyway?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“That’s completely fair, my guy. You don’t go so long with someone as your parent without caring about them to some extent, even if he wasn’t a good parent at all.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Thank you.” He’s always been grateful for the support of his friends through everything. Despite it all, they still have his back, and the people he used to know weren’t at all like that. “I mean it. You and your family have done so much for me that I don’t deserve.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You do deserve it, though. Because you’re my best friend. That’s all.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He doesn’t understand. He’s always done his best to be kind even when nothing was given to him, but why would they reciprocate? It was just… what was expected. He was supposed to be nice, supposed to be kind, supposed to be good. So why did others always treat it as though it were something special?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Adrien turns to his lunch and starts eating.</span>
</p>
<hr/>
<p>
  <span>The next akuma attack comes a day after that. He takes Kagami’s hand and drags her away from where the other fencers are evacuating to.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You ready?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I think it should just be you and her,” Kagami says.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Alright. Plagg, claws out,” he answers. It feels almost…more solemn than usual.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’ll see you afterwards.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The villain of the day is a kid who…seems to have failed a spelling test. Okay.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Marinette and Luka are already on the ground.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>That is…not as okay. He knows that Luka wouldn’t actually pressure her, but he </span>
  <em>
    <span>does </span>
  </em>
  <span>think that being in Luka’s very presence does make people want to talk. He’s experienced it. And he doesn’t think that it’ll be good for Marinette – if she’s still figuring things out for herself, then talking might not be beneficial.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He jumps into the fray. A good fight will be distracting.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Good to see you, Chat Noir.” Ladybug smiles, and he remembers why he likes this.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“So, what’s up?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“The akuma has a utility belt that they take school supplies out of,” Viperion begins. “I suspect that the akuma is in one of the pouches – there’s one that they don’t take anything out of.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“So how do we get it out?” Adrien asks.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“That’s a question for my Lucky Charm!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>A…fishing pole.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Looks like we’re going fishing,” Viperion comments. “Should I go now?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Wait until we catch back up,” she advises. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And they do face the akuma again. They’re regular human-sized, which is surprising, and covered in paper armor.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Five minutes,” Viperion declares, “Second Chance.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Alright, how are we going to do this?” Ladybug asks. She glances around, and then hands the fishing rod to Viperion. “You’re on fishing duty. Chat and I will get him hooked, and then we’ll destroy that belt and the object should come out – we’ll be able to break it without Cataclysm.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“How am I going to get up high enough to fish?” Viperion asks. Adrien, without hesitation, picks him up and deposits him on a roof while Ladybug engages.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He fires a salute and hops back into the alley to join Ladybug, and they’re…different. It doesn’t feel as easy to follow along. But she gives the signal to Viperion and he casts the rod, hooking the akuma and struggling to reel them up.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Cataclysm!” He touches the belt, and several pieces of stationary and a crumpled piece of paper falls out. She rips it in two and the butterfly comes flying out. Chat unhooks them before they turn back into a human, and sets the kid gently on the ground.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ladybug purifies the akuma and then hops up to get Viperion and the fishing pole down.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Miraculous Ladybug!” It puts the child back in their place too, and the three of them fistbump. “Bug out,” Ladybug declares, firing a salute at them.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Chapter 7</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Marinette is taking her time, and Luka is okay with that. Totally. Yeah.</p><p>(Not.)</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“What do you think?” he asks Adrien as they watch Marinette go.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re about to turn back,” Adrien responds, “so we should go somewhere else where we can talk about this.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Alright.” Luka doesn’t really want to argue with him (or any of them).</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Chat grabs his waist and lifts them away from the alley. There will probably be reporters snapping pictures of them, and at least one sensationalist headline about how Chat Noir fell away from his lady. He’s never cared about them, but occasionally on their patrols they catch a glimpse of one at a newsstand and burst out in laughter. Adrien was always the one who mocked them most – not the reporters that were legitimate (the Ladyblog, the news), but some of the worse ones (the tabloids).</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Alright.” Luka’s transformation fades in a blast of teal light. Adrien’s ring beeps.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Plagg, claws in. What did you want to talk about?” Adrien tosses a piece of cheese up to his kwami.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m worried about Marinette,” he confesses, because that’s all he’s been able to think about, and it </span>
  <em>
    <span>shouldn’t </span>
  </em>
  <span>be like that (but it is). “I know she should have her space, but…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I see her on a daily basis. She’s doing alright. She’s actually been presenting herself as fairly happy. I’m not sure how genuine that is, but that’s the sort of feeling she’s giving off. I think she’ll be ready soon and that we shouldn’t rush her.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I wasn’t planning on rushing her. It’s a relief to know that she’s alright. How are you and Kagami?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You and Kagami share similar sentiments. She’s not happy about it either.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Luka tilts his head. He and Kagami generally have very little in common (they say opposites attract, and he supposes sometimes that is true), but he wasn’t expecting them to be in agreement about </span>
  <em>
    <span>this</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Huh.” He has to think about that a little more. “Well, when she’s ready, we should all talk about this. We </span>
  <em>
    <span>do </span>
  </em>
  <span>need to talk. We almost did, but she took off before we could.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And there’s no point in it just being three of us,” Adrien responds. “It’s just…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Incomplete,” Luka says, filling in the blank.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Exactly.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m glad we’re on the same page. I’ll see you soon?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah.” Adrien smiles. “I told Marinette that we felt the same, privately. I hope that knowing that the two of us are the same will help her in her thoughts, too. It took me a bit to come to terms with it too.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Luka has always believed that love should be free, but there are more restrictive people, and society doesn’t really believe the same things as he does.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He settles on “I hope she can find out what she’s looking for while she’s away,” and they walk out of the alley together.</span>
</p><hr/><p>
  <span>Marinette cancels patrol. Luka spots later on the Ladyblog that Adrien and Kagami went anyway. The team went on patrols for a reason, he supposes, even if they just end up as a hangout session because there isn’t anything of note. Sometimes they come across arguments to break up before they turn into akumatizations; sometimes they come across someone committing a crime and report it to the police; and sometimes, they just don’t come across anything. Based on the pictures, it seems like Adrien and Kagami are just having fun.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They deserve it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>(Even if Luka does feel a </span>
  <em>
    <span>bit </span>
  </em>
  <span>mopey, other people can still have fun. The world doesn’t stop turning for him. He wouldn’t want it to – that sounds like a terrifying sort of power to hold, and he doesn’t want that.)</span>
</p><p>
  <span>(Really, he thinks he’s the least qualified person in the universe to bear any sort of power. He has no idea why the Snake Miraculous ended up in </span>
  <em>
    <span>his </span>
  </em>
  <span>guitar case, but he took it anyway and he hasn’t regretted it. After all, it led him to the people he loves, and that’s not something that he can regret.)</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They’re stuck in this place where everything is different but they haven’t shifted with the world around them. Because he’s not willing to move forward with whatever may come without Marinette. Adrien, according to what he said, isn’t either.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>So they’ll wait for her. That’s fine. Everyone always calls him patient, after all. (Some would say too much so.)</span>
</p><hr/><p>
  <span>“How’s Marinette?” he asks Juleka when she gets home.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Strange. She shifted around some of the seats, and I think she’s trying to get Sabrina away from Chloe?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Who’s Sabrina?” He remembers who Chloe is from the times she’s been akumatized, but…</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Chloe’s…well, she’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>called </span>
  </em>
  <span>Chloe’s best friend. I’m not sure how true that is when Chloe treats her more like a </span>
  <em>
    <span>slave.” </span>
  </em>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“I see.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“But I think there’s another reason for the seat change. I’m not sure what it is, though.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Luka knows. “And how’s it going with Rose?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Juleka blushes. “I don’t know,” she answers. “We keep doing all these things, but neither of us have asked to confirm whether we really are together or not, and I don’t want to be the one to ask.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Talking to her is the key,” he says. “Can’t get anywhere without communication.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I know.” She sighs. “How was your day?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And he regales her with a tale of how someone charged their computer through an outlet on the ceiling, presumably meant for the projector (which was </span>
  <em>
    <span>also </span>
  </em>
  <span>plugged in, but there were two outlets). </span>
</p><hr/><p>
  <span>Luka sends Marinette a couple feel-good positive memes, adding a disclaimer that she doesn't need to reply – they’re just meant to brighten her day.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He hopes they achieve the purpose they were meant to.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He hangs out with his friend Lucas – they’re friends, for whatever it’s worth, and he’s been neglecting some of his friends in favor of being Viperion, or hanging out with Marinette and Adrien and Kagami and his little sister’s friends.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>(And yes, they were the butt of so many jokes – Luka and Lucas, formerly best friends but now just regular ones.)</span>
</p><p>
  <span>(The drift started before Luka became Viperion – it started with Lucas’s boyfriend Benji being okay with their friendship yet spending a lot of time with Lucas anyway. Luka was never fond of being the third wheel, so that was the start of it.)</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It’s been six days.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Almost a week.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Time goes by faster than he’d expected.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Chapter 8</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Marinette comes back, ready to face whatever lies ahead. Kagami is <em>very</em> happy about that.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>The last chapter! Been a great ride. Thanks to everyone who read this.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Ladybug doesn’t cancel on them the next time they have a patrol scheduled. Kagami wonders if that means she’s ready to talk. It’s been eight days since she ran from them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What are you thinking?” she mutters to herself. After all, patrols are part of being productive. That doesn’t necessarily mean…</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Okay.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kagami shouldn’t get her hopes up too much. She transforms, and starts making her way to their usual rendezvous. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>***</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nobody is saying anything. She’s the last to arrive, and Adrien smiles when she drops down beside them, but none of them are speaking, and it’s just the slightest bit disconcerting. The silence is thick.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How are you doing?” She directs the question towards Marientte, but it’s an opening for all of them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m…doing alright,” Marinette answers. “Better than I was. I worked some things out. I…sometimes still think of myself badly, but it’s not like I can change it. I thought I could.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I know I can’t change what you think, but I </span>
  <em>
    <span>can </span>
  </em>
  <span>tell you that it’s okay. That you’re normal, and human, and not </span>
  <em>
    <span>other </span>
  </em>
  <span>or </span>
  <em>
    <span>strange </span>
  </em>
  <span>or </span>
  <em>
    <span>whatever </span>
  </em>
  <span>you might think. That however you are is exactly how you should be.” Luka speaks facing Marinette directly, and it feels like some sort of private moment.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“O-okay,” Marinette answers, and Kagami knows it’s just a concession to appease him. But even that is a slight bit of progress. “I can’t change it, so I have to </span>
  <em>
    <span>accept </span>
  </em>
  <span>it, and I think ending my solitude will help with that.” She looks over at Adrien. “I can’t thank all of you enough for waiting for me.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“There was never another option,” Kagami responds. Adrien and Luka both nod.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And we’ll keep waiting for you, as long as you need.” Marinette blushes a little bit.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s…good to know that you’re willing, but it’s just…I don’t want to hold you three back.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Why would she ever think that she was holding them back? Holding them back from what?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s not like that,” Adrien says. “Kagami and I are the only ones in a romantic relationship, communicated and confirmed.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The three of us don’t want anything together if it doesn’t involve you, too.” Kagami rolls with Adrien’s comment. “We’re incomplete if you aren’t with us.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Incomplete, huh?” Marinette smiles, but it’s marred by the fact that Kagami can see her blinking back tears.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kagami pulls her closer. “I love you, just as I love Adrien and Luka. It would not be right to </span>
  <em>
    <span>not </span>
  </em>
  <span>be with you alongside them.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I trust you,” Marinette says. “And I want to kiss you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I consent,” Kagami answers, and it feels more solemn than it should.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They spend the next few moments standing in a square, holding onto each other as best they can, trading kisses.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So, we’re all dating now?” Adrien asks. “Just to confirm.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I believe so,” Luka answers. “Let’s go patrol.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Right. Patrol.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>***</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Reality sinks in when she gets home. The only one who she can </span>
  <em>
    <span>publicly </span>
  </em>
  <span>be with is Adrien. Their relationship is approved. Her and Marinette have a friendship begrudgingly approved by her mother after the realization that she would be unable to separate them, but Mother hasn’t even </span>
  <em>
    <span>met </span>
  </em>
  <span>Luka (and she hopes Mother stays away, because that meeting would not go well. About as well as Luka meeting Gabriel Agreste, which she supposes technically happened).</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Either way, a relationship like theirs would not be approved.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kagami’s been keeping secrets for some time. She can keep a few more.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>***</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How are we going to be out?” Adrien asks.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Adrien and I are dating as civilians,” Kagami points out. “In order to avoid any strange accusations, at least as civilians, Marinette and Luka can be publicly out.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We don’t need to be out,” Luka says. “We can just keep doing the same things we always have, and let people assume what they will.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kagami isn’t quite assuaged by that, but it’s a plan for </span>
  <em>
    <span>now </span>
  </em>
  <span>at least, and she can work with that.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>***</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Their first akuma attack after confirming their relationship is…strange, to say the least. It’s a person, taking the form of a translucent mongoose.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>What sort of emotions that caused a person to turn into </span>
  <em>
    <span>this, </span>
  </em>
  <span>she doesn’t know.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It’s clever, and hard to keep track of due to its size and ability to phase through things such as Chat’s arms. But they’re more in sync than they’ve ever been, and even though the akuma is annoying it still feels good to fight with them at her side.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Lucky Charm!” An inkwell falls out of the sky.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Doing some writing?” Adrien asks, smirking.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, this one is easy,” Luka comments, activating his power in that moment.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We have to find it first,” Kagami points out, but it’s easy to see it scampering across the park. Adrien runs for it and douses it in the ink. It wriggles and squirms trying to get it off, but Kagami is there with a lightning bolt to the right spot to paralyze it for a bit.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Adrien takes something off its ankle and smashes it with his boot, causing a butterfly to fly out.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Marinette purifies the butterfly and the akuma turns back into a person. Adrien tosses the inkwell to her and she calls for her magical cleansing, which makes the person that was a ghostly mongoose conscious and able to sit up.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What happened?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You were akumatized, sir.” Kagami is on taking-akuma-home duty most of the time, because her power gives her the most time – the timer only activates once all three are used, which rarely happens. But this time Adrien takes the lead, which makes sense because he didn’t use his Cataclysm.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh. Thank you.” They take Adrien’s hand and get up.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The four of them do their customary fistbump.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ll take them home,” Adrien says. “It’s been a while. I miss doing that.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Alright.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Marinette, Luka, and Kagami may take different ways out, but all end up in the same place anyway – Luka and Marinette’s Miraculous blink out at different times, and they all just huddle in the alley. Adrien, if he wants to find them, can always use the tracker. Kagami will still be on it. That’s why she remains transformed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You three having fun without me?” Adrien teases as he drops inside the alley, transforming back as soon as he lands.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kagami detransforms, too, so none of them are in their suits.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Just huddling,” Marinette answers. “Come join us. Group cuddle.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Adrien smiles, and walks over to them. Even though it’s a little dirty, it feels good to be with them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They’ve figured it out after all this time, and they will still stumble – but at least they will be together through it all.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Join us on the <a href="https://discord.gg/mlfanworks">Miraculous Fanworks Discord server</a> if you're interested in meeting a growing community of creators and Miraculous Ladybug fans and participating in events like this!</p><p>Note that this work remains unrevealed until Feb 1st, so if you choose to enter through this fic I can't respond but thank you if you do.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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